Cranford High School
CHS Homepage

2007-2008
2006-2007
2005-2006
2004-2005
2003-2004
2002-2003
2001-2002
2000-2001
1999-2000
1997-1998

Cranford High School | Special Announcements

Memorable Moments 1999-2000
  • Cranford High School was selected as a National Service-Learning Leader School for its contribution to service-learning in both the classroom and its co-curricular activities. The high school was one of only 66 schools across the nation to be honored. The C.H.S. team of Ms. Amy Biasucci, Ms. Diane Connelly, and Ms.Eileen Dachnowicz received the Presidential Award at the John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on June 16th.


  • Congratulations to Mr. Julius Gottilla!
    Mr. Julius Gottilla, a member of the English Department, has been selected for the 2000 Princeton University Distinguished Secondary Teaching Award. "Through his fruitful teaching and devoted service, he has exerted a praiseworthy influence on the lives of his students."

    Mr. Gottilla is honored again. This time, the Cranford Board of education recognized him as the 2000 - 2001 Cranford Teacher of the Year.



  • The Mathematical Association of America and the Tensor Foundation
    Ms. Diane Connelly and Ms. Joan A. Puma received a grant from the Mathematical Association of America and the Tensor Foundation for the "Technofilles" project that encourages pre-college women to study mathematics and technology.

  • Jeffrey Baer '00 received the Union County Historical Society Award for the Year 2000.

  • The New Jersey Department of Education honored the Visible Woman Club of Cranford High School and its founder/adviser Mrs. Eileen Dachnowicz with its "Best Practices" Award. The club, originally formed five years ago at the request of female high school students, has expounded the cause of female equality in school, the job and the marketplace. It has created a Web site that contains information on women's support groups in Union County, conducted fund-raisers for causes and held annual school forums on relevant concerns. C.H.S. will receive $500, and the "Best Practice," designed to be replicated, is published on the Internet.

  • Congratulations to Jessica A. Mahon and Daniel C. Morton, Scholarship Recipients, in the National Merit Scholarship Competition, and the nine seniors who were commended for their superior scores in this rigorous event.


  • Jane Zielenbach '00 was honored by the Morris Museum
    for her batik, "Long Beach Island." The batik, a project completed in Dr. Josephine C. Harris's class, was exhibited in the 12th annual juried art exhibition "Fresh Perspectives."

  • Six members of the CHS Forensics Team have qualified for national competition, held this year in Rochester, New York. They are: former Co-captain John Serpico '00 in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; Valentina Minak '01 in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, her second national contest; Co-captain Ian Allcock '01 in Original Oratory, his second national contest; Co-captain Matthew Werder '02 in Student Congress; Patrick Bither '02 in Declamation, his second national contest; Beth Casciano '02 in Declamation. Congratulations on this honor!

  • "Women Who Make a Difference" Award

    The Summit Resource Center for Women honored LISA KARDOS '00, Visible Woman president, at its Blue Moon Gala for her extraordinary work in promoting gender equity.

  • Congratulations to Veronica Heller who has been named to the New Jersey Scholars Program!

  • Ben Brown '00, Jon Ellis '00, Bryan Farrell '00 and Dan Rowen '00, students of Mr. Edward Narkiewicz, captured First Place in the 5th Annual Union County Great Bridge Building Contest.

  • THE CRANFORD FUND FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE awarded a grant to Ms. Diane Connelly to further promote the "Technofilles", a project to foster excellence in mathematics and science among female students at Cranford High School.

  • ACCESS 2000 TECHNOLOGY GRANTS
    sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders were awarded to
    Ms. Dori Cudworth, Mr. Edward Narkiewicz, Mr. Jay Smith, and Ms. Joanne Knego for a Cooperative Teacher Project; Mrs. Carol Migliorini for an Individual Teacher Project; and Mrs. Carol Fedoryk for a School-Wide Project.


  • The CHS Library Web site has been selected for inclusion in the newly-launched Google Web Directory. The site uses the Netscape Open Directory Project and Google's PageRank to provide hand-selected, relevance-ranked links. The CHS Library site is one of only 27 NJ school library sites included and one of 20 ranked. The site is developed and maintained by Mrs. Mary Ann Boyno, Librarian.


  • Educational Resources Information Center
    The CHS ThinkQuest site "Anatomy of A Murder: A Trip through our Nation's Justice System" has been included in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education. The team members who created the site were Michael Morley '96, Michael Hammer '96, and Chris Stiner '96 with Teacher/Coach Mrs. Carol A. Fedoryk.

  • The Cranford High School Mock Trial team was declared the Union County champion in a trial held on March 1, 2000. Team members were: Prosecution- Attorneys Lisa Kardos (grade 12) and Nita Colaco (12); Witnesses- Beth Casciano(10), Kaitlyn Boyle (10), and Kate Planer (10). Defense- Attorneys John Serpico (12) and Mike Cilia (12); Witnesses- Ed Feeley (12), Alison Wischusen (10), and Tom Newman(11). Also of great help were Debbie Wechselblatt (10) and Josh Lasky (9). The attorney-advisor was Mr. Bruce Bergen (CHS class of '73) and the teacher-advisor was Mr.Bernard Flashberg.

    Congratulations to the CHS Mock Trial Team and Attorneys- Lisa Kardos '00, Nita Colaco '00, John Serpico '00, and Mike Cilia '00 for winning the Union County championship! The team is advised by Mr. Bernard Flashberg.

  • Rachel Harley '00 and Daniel Morton '00 were awarded scholarships by the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. They were among the top scorers on the Uniform Examination taken by over 550 students, and successfully passed through an interview process administered by the Society. Rachel and Daniel are students with Mr. Richard Phillips in Advanced Accounting Independent Study and College Preparatory Accounting II, respectively.

  • Congratulations to the Boys Indoor Track and Field Team-the Union County Champions and to Coach Ray White! Ben Brown '00, Star-Ledger Player of the Week, led an overwhelming performance by Cranford's distance runners, winning the one-mile run in 4:42.5 and the 880-yard run in 2:06.2, and Steve Oliveira '00 won the two-mile run to help Cranford take the Union County Winter Track and Field title."

  • Mr. Albert Berke, advisor of the Cranford Chapter of YMCA's Youth Government, received a special commendation from New Jersey Senate President Donald T. Di Francesco for his role in producing future leaders of the state of New Jersey and the United States of America.

  • Congratulations to Daniel Morton '00 who achieved First Place in the 23rd Annual Mathematics Contest sponsored by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey! Daniel had a perfect score.

  • We're proud that students from the class of 2000 were accepted to the following colleges: Georgetown; Harvard; Yale; American; Penn State; Rutgers; Lesley; Delaware; Quinnipiac; Hartford; Georgia Tech; Clemson; NJIT; Rider; Richmond; University of Rochester; College of NJ; Montclair. One student received a Congressional Nomination for possible admittance to West Point and the Air Force Academy, and another student, to the United States Naval Academy.

  • Mr. George Huff is now a member of the Guidance Advisory Board for Highwired.com - The Global High School Community. His invitation to the board came as a result of his dynamic use of the Highwired guidance resources and the on-line publication of the "The Guidelight Newsletter"

  • Congratulations Mr. Ray White-State of New Jersey Cross Country Coach of the Year!

  • Best wishes to Cranford's Two Union County Coaches of the Year- Coach Pat Hall for Volleyball and Coach Karrie Lambright for Soccer!

  • Union County Player of the Year
    National Girls Soccer Team
    Sue Flamini '01, Union County Player of the Year, earned a position on the Under-sixteen National Girls Soccer Team. Congratulations Sue!


  • The National School Boards Association (NSBA) featured The Cranford Public School District, New Jersey in its Technology Leadership Network Special Report- Models of Success: Case Studies of Technology in Schools. Cranford was one of only twenty districts across the Nation to receive this distinction!

  • CONGRATULATIONS to the '99 Semifinalist CHS ThinkQuest team of Dan Rowen '00, Justin Baker '01, Julia Gilbert of Canada, and their Coach, Ms. Diane Connelly! Additionally, the team received Honorable Mention in this year's contest and each student member, an award of $100. Visit its site, Internet Art Museum.

  • Woodrow Wilson Foundation Leadership Teacher
    Sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (WWNFF) and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Ms. Biasucci particpated in the Costa Rica Environmental Science Institute. Her studies took her to the forests of Costa Rica where, by way of field-oriented learning and instructional research, she studied ecosystems in the context of global change. She wrote of her experience, "Nothing I write will approach the sensations of wonder and the intellectual growth that I am experiencing in the tropical ecosystems. The only true way to capture what the rainforest and dry forest offer is to FEEL IT." She shares her research with others and its relevance to the classroom via self-created Web pages that are currently hosted on the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Web site.

  • A Vision for The Twenty-first Century Schools
    CHS and its students were cited by the Benton Foundation in its publication "The Learning Connection: Schools in the Information Age" as a vision for the twenty-first century schools.
©2004- Cranford High School Cranford, New Jersey